Death rates must be published by surgeons

Death rates must be published by surgeons

According to the NHS medical director, surgeons must publish death rates or face penalties.

Surgeons to publish death rates

Following criticism regarding NHS transparency, Sir Bruce Keogh has made a move to improve trust and transparency by releasing up to 5,000 surgeon’s death rates so patients can compare doctors.

He clarified that surgeons who failed to publish death rates would not be awarded bonuses or be considered fit for practice.

‘We will lose some surgeons. We will, and we have as a consequence of this endeavour,’ he said.

‘The other thing that is more likely, and will help with quality, is that those surgeons who are doing just a small number of operations will think ‘I’m not doing that any more’, and they will pass on those operations to their colleagues.’ He explained.

Patients will be able to refuse treatment if they are concerned about the surgeon’s figures.